Location: | 13 km south of Harrison on National Scenic Byway 7. 8 km north of the Buffalo National River. |
Open: |
JAN closed. FEB after appointment. MAR to MAY Mon-Sat 9-17 (last tour), Sun closed. JUN to AUG Mon-Sat 9-18 (last tour), Sun closed. SEP to OCT Mon-Sat 9-17 (last tour), Sun closed. NOV to DEC Mon-Sat 9-16 (last tour), Sun closed. [2006] |
Fee: |
Adults $11.95, Children (5-12) $5.95, Children (0-4) free. (+tax) Groups (12+). [2006] |
Classification: | Karst Cave Boone limestone. |
Light: | Incandescent |
Dimension: |
Mystic Cavern: L=91 m, H=9 m. Crystal Dome Cavern: L=222 m. T=14 °C. |
Guided tours: | Every 35 min, D=70 min. |
Photography: | |
Accessibility: | |
Bibliography: | |
Address: | Mystic Caverns, Box 1301, Harrison, AR 72602, Tel. +1-870-743-1739, Toll Free: 1-888-743-1739, E-mail: |
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info. |
1850's | first discovered by the first settlers. |
1919 | oldest evidence of visitors, Adam Kolbe carved his name and the date on a formation. Cave named Mansion Cave at this time. |
1920's | developed by the land owners, Jim and Bob Gurley. They installed a wooden ladder into the sinkhole entrance and leveled the cave floors. Cave was renamed Wild Horse Cave. |
1938 | the cave was closed due to the dangerous entrance steps |
1949 | purchased by Albert Raney, Sr., who built concrete steps and trails and reopened the cave. |
1966 | bought by the Dogpatch theme park and an entrance tunnel, rock walkways and a modern, indirect lighting system were installed. |
1968 | Crystal Dome was accidentally discovered. |
1968 | reopended as Dogpatch Cavern. |
1981 | sold to Bruce Raney, reopened as Mystic Caverns. |
AUG-1981 | Crystal Dome development completed and opened to the public. |
1984 | bought by Omni Properties, Inc.. |
1988 | bought by Steven Rush. |
1997 | bought by Mystic Caverns, Inc. |
The original cave entrance of Mystic Cavern was a vertical shaft of nearly 4 m at the bottom of a sinkhole. Here the roof of the cave collapsed and allowed to enter the cave. It was also the - rather dangerous - entrance for the visitors, until an artificial entrance was built in 1966.
This cavern contains large speleothems, but unfortunately the cavern was damaged in the early 1930's, when they operated a distillery in it. In the 1940's when the cave was unprotected for a short period, people stole some of the stalactites.
The second cave, Crystal Dome Cavern, lies lower than Mystic Cavern. It has been protected since the time of its discovery in 1968. This cave has two levels, the upper level is visited on the cave tour, the lower level contains a large stream which has been explored over 90 m upstream and 9m downstream.
The water passage contains both cave salamanders and crayfish. A dye test was done two years ago by the National Park Service which revealed, that the water flowing through the stream exits a rock opening in the bluff a mile away.